A/N - They officially begun Hogwarts and plots start to unfold, I officially started uni, so there might be delays in me posting stuff right on time as my supply of unpublished stories isn't infinite and sooner or later it will run out.
o-0-o
They followed Professor McGonagall and entered into the Great Hall, massive hall with an enchanted ceiling that showed the sky above and thousands of candles floating right under it. It was filled with four long tables, with golden plates and cutlery, around which were seated hundreds of students. Above those tables floated dozens of ghosts, their wispy silvery forms passing through one another and through the walls. As they entered the room Harry could feel noise die down with whole attention focused on them, stares of over a thousand people focused mostly on him.
"I knew that you were famous," Ulf whispered. "But this makes me jealous of you."
"Kill a dark lord as an infant and you will have the same kind of fame," Harry said with a snort. "I would much more prefer not to have this fame."
Ulf fell silent and trailed behind Harry as they walked across the hall and towards the front of the room where at the high table sat staff of the school. In the middle Harry immediately recognized Dumbledore in his purple robes and half glasses, seated in the biggest chair that looked more like a throne than anything else, especially with all of the gilding and carvings. To his right side was an empty seat, presumably McGonagall's followed by a seat occupied by a short, squat woman. Next two seats were occupied by a wizard and a witch with snow-white hair that looked as if they were several centuries old and if the power they were giving off was anything to go by they were powerful. To their side sat a person that could only be the ponce mentioned by Professor Flitwick during a tour of Diagon Alley, as Harry looked at him he felt a bit queasy and wondered how the heck this guy was able to do half of the things he claimed to get done. That side of the table was finished by Gambit and Banshee who behaved completely normal and Gambit winked in his direction.
On the other side of the table from Dumbledore first seat was occupied by Flitwick, followed by a pink menace that looked hideous, followed by a greasy man that must have been Snape, mentioned more than a dozen of times by Sirius or dad. Next person looked like a walrus and seemed to enjoy the time, after him sat person that looked too tired and too thin to be healthy, yet there was something lupine to him.
"At?" Harry asked, indicating that person.
She followed his gaze and let out a low hiss. "A werewolf or one of Wolf People, hard to say," she whispered. "Nonetheless a dangerous being, be careful around him."
Harry nodded and his eyes swept over the rest of the table, taking into account one, impossible to miss face of a certain Warden and as of recent a thug on Mab's payroll. If anything was to be said about this year, he would say that it was going to be fun. Probably dangerous, but fun.
When they stopped in front of the high table Professor McGonagall placed in front of them a three-legged stool with a worn out hat on it, a stitched hole that looked like a mouth opened and it started to sing. Harry muted it out and waited patiently for the song to finish. "I will call your name and you will sit down on the stool and put on the Sorting Hat that will assign you to a house," Sprout said once the song was over. "Abbott Hannah!"
A girl walked to the stool, sat down, placed hat on her head and waited. Hat almost immediately screamed "HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Bones Susan!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
Sorting moved forward with Lavender Brown being the first person to land in Gryffindor, while Gregory Goyle was the first Slytherin. Harry muted it mostly out, paying only some attention to it, while trying not to punch a bushy haired girl that stood behind him and rattled about what she had read about Hogwarts. He let out a sigh and looked at the ceiling, slowly pronouncing in his mind names of all major fae he knew, followed by the names of gods and his whole family tree. His musings were cut short when his name was called. "Harry Potter!" McGonagall called.
As he walked to the stool he could feel whispers grow around him as the whole room seemed completely focused on him. He didn't pay any attention to them and simply sat down on the stool and the moment the Hat was placed on his head he felt something probing his mind.
"Brave, loyal, cunning, smart and humble," the Hat said in his mind. "Where should I place you? You have traits of all of the houses and you will fit equally well in all of them. Tough person to sort, all of those traits and a half-Æsir on top of that. Gryffindor would give you strength and courage, Slytherin cunning mind, Ravenclaw an opportunity to study more, Hufflepuff values loyalty and diligence, but I think that there is a house where you would fit better. Yes, yes, Gryffindor is just the house for you."
"GRYFFINDOR!" The Hat screamed.
He removed the Hat of his head and walked to the table of the lion, one where he could see Weasley twins howling in excitement and joy, while from other tables were mainly heard voices of disappointment and sadness that he wasn't theirs. He sat down by one of Weasley twins as they made space for him and looked curiously around, recognizing faces of people he knew, yet the most of them was new and foreign to him.
"It is a good feeling not to be at the high table," he said as Atalanta and Ulf appeared to his sides without a single noise.
"On Asgard you sit there?" Oliver asked.
"Whole family and its wards, which makes everybody look at you and what you do."
"So how do you deal with pressure?"
"We get used to it and ignore it," Atalanta said and Harry smiled in thanks. "Unless it is a major feast we can also avoid the thing and sit amongst our friends."
Harry nodded and focused on the sorting and people that would be new members of Gryffindor, he winced in pain when he heard that Ron Weasley and his damned sister would be with him in the same house. However other than that there were no people that caused grief or unhappiness from him, mostly they caused indifference. In alphabetical order they were Lavender Brown, Colin Creevey, Seamus Finnigan, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Parvati Patil and finally two redheads, Ron and Ginny Weasley. As he looked at Atalanta he could see that she looked as if she contemplated a murder.
Dumbledore stood up and fired from the tip of his wand several large sparks that silenced them and made them focus on him. "Before we eat I will have some very important announcements, first of all Professor McGonagall stepped down from the position of Head of Gryffindor. Now she is just a Transfiguration Professor and Deputy Headmistress, in her place on this position was chosen Professor Remus Lupin who is a new Professor at our school. He will be responsible for teaching Dueling for the last two years, thus giving him more time to focus on his other duties.
"There are also several changes in staff composition, Professor Horace Slughorn has graciously agreed to return to the school and will be responsible for teaching Potions to the first four years. Professor Severus Snape agreed to only teach older and more experienced potion makers that as he said, can understand the art. New Professor of the History of Magic will be my dear friend and teacher Nicolas Flamel, while his wife Perenelle will teach Alchemy as an elective available since the fourth year. Professor Harry Dresden from the Colonies, who is also a representative of the White Council will be teaching you about the magic used by the Council. Last but not least, Professors Remy LeBeau and Sean Cassidy will teach you self-defence. Now, tuck in," Dumbledore said, finishing the speech and on the tables appeared hundreds of dishes.
"Why does the name Cassidy sounds familiar?" Oliver wondered and Harry looked at him. "I know that I heard it, somewhere, but I can't remember where exactly."
"He was at the Institute," Harry said with a shrug. "Agent of SHIELD, X-Men, Agent of MI-13 and few other groups."
"And LeBeau?" Fred Weasley asked.
"Also from there," Harry said and let his eyes roam over the high table, making sure to avoid any eye contact, especially with Dresden. "I'm more curious about Dresden and what he can show."
"Who is he?" Ron asked for the first time and making Harry almost throw up at the sight of his table manner, or more properly lack of them.
"A Warden and a member of the White Council," one of older students said.
"Which is?" Ron dumbly asked, making Harry roll his eyes in despair.
"An international organization of wizards, led by the Senior Council and Wardens are their military," Hermione said with a slightly upturned nose.
"So an auror."
At those words ghost of the house passed through Harry, making him shiver, and stopped in front of Ron. "No, aurors fight to catch, those fight to kill," Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, ghost of Gryffindor said and they looked at him. "They are the effect of the wars that almost ripped apart wizarding world in the ancient times, when Rome was falling and his ancestors," Nicholas gave Harry a pointed look. "Were playing their games with their Greek cousins for power and influence. It is bad enough when two gods are fighting, when whole pantheons move against each other it's terrible and every conflict between them influence what is happening in the material world. Merlin, the original one, brought stability and managed to bargain peace between the pantheons, while brutally dealing with rogue sorcerers and wizards, and finally formed the White Council. Wardens are their military arm, one responsible for keeping peace and order, while enforcing the Laws of Magic, about which you will learn during your first class with Dresden."
"Your family?" Hermione asked.
"A long story, not for today," Harry swiftly cut the topic, not wishing to open this particular can of worms.
"How did you get those wings of yours?" Oliver asked. "I saw you earlier, but never had an opportunity to ask.
"Mutation," Harry said. "Same as cousin's."
"So that's why you were at the Institute?"
Harry nodded and focused on eating, feeling the comfortable silence that fell onto the table. He already could tell that he liked this group of people and the atmosphere they formed. It promised a nice experience that he wouldn't soon forget. Once they ate their desserts Dumbledore once again stood up and looked over their faces, Harry carefully avoided crossing eyes with the old wizard as he didn't want to let Dumbledore see what he was thinking.
"Since now we are all fed and watered I would like to announce one thing that should make a great deal of people happy. On the night of the autumnal equinox there will be organized a ball and all the students are invited to attend it," Dumbledore said and his words were followed by a wave of whistles and whooping noises. "Now of you go to beds."
Harry got up with a content sigh and followed the wave of students towards dormitories where comfortable and warm beds would await them. They passed through dozens of staircases, some of them wide and stable, some of them narrow and having a spirit on their own, but they finally got to their target. Common room from which led stairs to dormitories, it was a large area with wooden floor, covered in various rugs, dozens of tables scattered around it with sofas and armchairs.
"All houses share a common room," Percy Weasley said, seeing their confusion and looks sent around the room. "We have a smaller one, where tomorrow you will meet with the head of house. Now, follow me and I will show you where is our house."
Half asleep and feeling heavy from the meal they just had they walked across the common room and stopped on front of a door with a lion's head sculpted in its doorframe. "This is the border of our territory and inside only we can enter, people from other house are only allowed when invited by one of us. Everything that happens there, stays there. Clear?"
They weakly nodded and followed Percy up yet another flight of stairs and entered into a smaller room. "Boys, first on the right, girls, first on the left," he called, joining them.
Harry nodded and with a large yawn he followed the rest of boys down the short corridor and into their dormitory. It was a large room, likely in some tower on its own as it was round and windows were placed along the whole length of the wall. There was around a dozen of beds, with nightstands and their trunks placed between their legs. Harry could hear gasps of surprise and shock at the sight of his wolves laying on his bed and sleeping soundly.
"What are they doing here?" someone asked and made him sight.
"Sleeping?" Harry asked before walking to the bed and shooing them onto the ground.
Freki looked at him with disdain, but jumped off the bed and jumped onto the next one, where it curled into the ball. His brother did the same and soon they were once again sleeping on the bed.
"Well, that works, too," Harry said with a laugh as he looked at the wolves and later at his bed. He didn't pay them much attention and instead focused on digging through his personal possessions to find his sleeping clothes, he trotted to the bathroom to get changed and once back he found angry Ron looking at him. "What's wrong?"
"Your so called pets," he snarled, spit flying everywhere. "They took my bed."
"Chase them away," Harry said with a shrug. "If you don't know how, maybe you should sleep on the floor."
Ron growled and Harry was forced to dodge as a fist flew towards his head, however that was the moment when Ron's time to shine ended. In his next move Harry kicked Ron away, sending him flying across the room, and walked to the bed as if nothing happened, life on Asgard taught him that brawls were common and he just needed to enjoy them. "Don't attack me," Harry said, looking over the room before slipping into his bed and going to sleep.
o-0-o
Gambit lit a cigarette and looked at Banshee. "So what are we supposed to do at this school?"
"You have your teaching job, while I'm supposed mostly to look around and keep an eye on Dumbledore," Banshee said. "As well as to make sure that if something nasty is going to happen, we know about it."
"So I'm stuck with a bunch of teens that I need to teach how to defend themselves?"
"Pretty much yes, also they lack any fitness and physical activities are a completely unknown thing," Banshee said and sighed. "When they were at the Institute Wolverine gave them a crash course, but probably they assumed that it could be forgotten. Harry and his friends are as deadly as an average X-Men, so let them train whatever they want as they will get bored with the basics and I think that you know what happens when someone powerful goes stir crazy."
"No fitness?" Gambit asked and Banshee nodded. "It seems that I will have fun with them, probably half of the grade they get will be for showing up for training."
"Cruel, but it will work."
"Since that is out of the way," Gambit said and looked at Banshee. "How do you plan to deal with that pink menace that needs to be gone?"
"Slowly," he said. "She is a careful one, so she will make sure not to leave anything that can be used against her. Good thing is that she is hated by almost everybody that has a working brain." He paused and focused on Gambit. "Do you know or could you find anybody that knows how to cause mischief and knows how to be stealthy?"
"I have just the people you want and it seems that Harry came to like them. I will give him few days to get used to the school and approach them."
"Good."
Gambit nodded and relaxed as they kept talking about the school year and they plans for it.
o-0-o
Loki walked past a pair of Sidhe guards and nodded to Mab who stood in front of a window, her majestic form looking as dangerous as a glacier. As he looked at her he could feel magic that was coming from her in waves of pure power. "Your Majesty," he said, with a light bow of his head. "Thank you for finding time for a meeting with me."
"Your Highness," she replied. "I always have time for one of Princes of Asgard, especially after what had you done to show wizards their place in the world and that you will not tolerate any attacks against you."
He faintly smiled. "Could we move past those honorific and pleasantries?"
"Of course," she said, snapped her fingers and a dozen of servants appeared in the room, carrying trays with food and drink. "You are my guest, help yourself, it is not poisoned."
Loki looked at her, unsure if what he heard was true. "Do you extend guest rights to me?"
"I do."
He nodded and picked up a chalice with wine. "I'm here on behalf of my father in regards to our common enemy and the noise they are causing. We have other worries so we cannot fully commit ourselves to this war, but we have an idea that can help you gain an upper hand and perhaps win it."
"What do you suggest?"
"Temporary ceasefire and calling a summit of all of the Accords signatories, they are on the list, to discuss current events and balance of power," Loki said and smiled. "I also want to offer Asgard as a venue for the summit."
She regarded him with a long gaze, her cat-like eyes sweeping over his form, then she smiled. "I will graciously accept the proposition made by your father and in fortnight I will be on Asgard to discuss details with him in person."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Loki said with a bow of his head, trying not to anger her as a duel with her, here of all places would be a suicide, even for him. "It means a lot to us as the war is not going well and we need time to gather forces."
She nodded and he took it as a cue to disappear, his job was done and he didn't want to be in her presence any longer. She was a force to be reckoned with and a terrible foe or a great ally.
o-0-o
Harry yawned as he sat up in his bed and looked around, it was still dark and sun was barely visible, with just a couple of long wisps of sunlight in the room. He saw that Ulf was also awake and looking at him. "We have an hour or two before everybody else wakes up," he said, looking at his friend.
"Training?" Ulf asked. "Or something else?"
"Training," Harry grumbled as he got out of the bed. "We both know that we need to do it and it is probably the only moment when we can do it undisturbed."
Ulf nodded and both of them grabbing what they needed, walked out of the room and into the bathhouse created by Loki. Harry blinked as he looked around, it was a familiar layout. "Why do I have a feeling I saw a similar?" He asked, looking at Ulf.
"At the Academy they have a similar one, so probably that's why," Ulf explained with a shrug. "So everything we might need should be there," he said, Harry followed his hand and nodded.
On the far end of the room he saw something that looked like sandy circles used for wrestling and equipment for working out. "Yup."
They did they usual training and when they were finishing it other people started to enter the whole complex, looking around confused and unsure of what was going on. It seemed that this was a new addition to the school and they didn't know about it. Walking past them Harry returned to the dormitory to get ready for the day, he didn't miss lustful stares from some people, but he ignored them and paid them no mind.
They gathered what they needed and soon they were walking for the breakfast that was being served in the Great Hall, as they passed through the school Harry could feel people point him with fingers and comment about him. When he was at the Institute, he was kind of famous, as were all X-Men, but it was less obvious kind of fame, here it seemed as if he was the main attraction of the day and those lustful glares and being pointed at was an expected thing.
"Easy," Atalanta whispered as she moved to his side. "Ignore them and pay them no attention, they don't deserve it."
He smiled in her direction and she left a peck on his cheek which was almost immediately followed by a lot of grumbling from girls that saw it. They entered the Great Hall and walked to the table occupied by Gryffindor where some people were already eating breakfast and their head of house was circling around, handing out timetables.
Harry quickly piled food onto his plate and between bites of it took a quick look at the timetable that made its way into his hands. "White Magic with Ravenclaw," he murmured. "Which means Dresden, which means fun."
"Mad Wizard Dresden? He will be more than interesting," Oliver said and Harry looked at him. "You will see for yourself, but he is hated by our wizards."
"And is extremely dangerous," Harry added with a smile.
"That's true, but mostly hated by our wizards."
"If he is so hated by wizards how is it that he is a teacher?" Hermione asked.
"Politics," Oliver said with a faint smile. "The White Council probably feels a tiny bit insecure about what's going on inside of those walls, so they want to have a spy inside."
Harry nodded in agreement and they quickly finished their breakfast, before walking out of the Great Hall and guided by one of Prefects they walked through a maze of corridors and towards the place where they would have their first class of the day.
Entering the classroom Harry looked around and quickly noticed several circles inlaid in the floor, one from copper, several from silver, one from intertwining braids of gold, silver and several other metals, on the walls were shelves with various reagents for use in magic. His eyes lingered on them for a moment before slipping over desks and coming to a stop on a skull carved out of a piece of wood and inscribed with runes that was placed on a shelf behind teacher's desk, then hiz slipped to a large feline that sat besides it. A large feline with a really sharp claws and teeth as Harry almost immediately recognized it as a malk, their gray fur with a black pattern was impossible to be mistaken for anything else. "He has a malk as a pet?" Harry asked.
"And it's not a usual malk," Atalanta commented as they walked to the desks besides windows, she took one with him, getting even more groans from other girls, while Ulf took one behind them. "It is one of those old ones, really old ones."
"Isn't it that Cat Sith is supposed to be a batman to each and every Winter Knight?" Harry mused.
Atalanta's eyes widened and then she very slowly nodded. "Yes," she said. "So that must be him, Cat Sith."
Harry was about to say something when he heard a tapping sound, glancing backwards he saw Dresden enter into the room, his staff tapping against the floor with each step, his duster and a gray cloak over it, billowing with each move. His steps were long and purposeful, his face scarred and eyes dangerous, slipping over each and every student, making sure not to directly look into the eyes. With a wave of Dresden's hand all of the candles in the room were lit, earning gasps of shock and surprise from other students. He stopped behind the desk, looking over the class.
"For those who don't know who I am, I am Harry Dresden, a wizard, a member of the White Council, a Warden and since this year your new Professor. When referring to me use Professor Dresden, nothing else will pass," he said. "You are here to learn about the Art as taught by the White Council and laws that govern it."
He paused for a moment and walked to the front of his desk. "If you only take one thing out of the class, let it be this," he said and slammed his staff into the floor, making words appear on the blackboard.
The Seven Laws of Magic:
Thou Shalt Not Kill by Use of Magic.
Thou Shalt Not Transform Another.
Thou Shalt Not Invade the Mind of Another.
Thou Shalt Not Enthrall Another.
Thou Shalt Not Seek Beyond the Borders of Life.
Thou Shalt Not Swim Against the Currents of Time.
Thou Shalt Not Seek Beyond the Outer Gates.
"Read them," he said. "Commit them to the memory, lack of knowledge is no excuse. Breaking of any of them is punishable by an immediate execution." When he said those words you could hear a pin drop onto the ground, the class was completely still and focused on him. "No trial. No appeal. Just you, a Warden and a very. Sharp. Sword. One that will remove your head from your neck. Having said that, they only apply to human beings. Questions?"
One girl with bushy hair slowly raised her hand, she was very pale and seemed as if she was to pass out.
"Yes, Miss?"
"Granger, Hermione Granger," she said, sounding very high pitched. "What about extenuating circumstances, self-defense for example."
"Very rarely done," he said. "There is a clause for it, called a Doom of Damocles, but a member of the Council needs to vouch for you and if you break any of the laws, both of you are executed. In the last century it happened twice, any other questions?"
Harry slowly raised his hand and looked at Dresden.
"Yes, Mr?"
"Potter, Harry Potter," Harry said. "What about offsprings of magical races and humans, Changelings for example."
"An excellent question," Dresden nodded. "Changelings are offsprings of fae and humans and the key thing is if they made a choice, if they chose humanity, laws apply, if they chose their fae side, they do not apply. Any other questions?"
There were none, Dresden nodded and pulled out a thick book. "This is a book all of you were supposed to acquire before the beginning of the year. Elementary Magic by Ebenezar McCoy, in the opinion of most of the White Council it is the best book when it comes to teaching magic. It doesn't focus on any branch of it, it teaches about magic as a force and as an energy without any superstitions or religious beliefs. Inside you will find the syllabus, I won't assign any reading, but you need to keep up with the syllabus."
Harry pulled out his own copy of the book and quickly scanned the syllabus, circles, évocations, thaumaturgy, shields, some history, the Nevernever and beings of it, more evocations and thaumaturgy, Faeries and the Accords, focii and how to make them. Seemed pretty straightforward, not too many surprises.
"We won't start with magic," Dresden said and everybody groaned. "We will start with something that is done later, but other Professors asked me to wait with magic for a bit. The White Council will be the topic. What do you know about it? You should know something as it isn't a very secret knowledge."
Harry rolled his eyes when he saw Hermione's hand high in the air. Dresden looked at her and nodded.
"It is an organization of wizards, ruled by the Senior Council," she said.
"Not bad," Dresden commented. "Can you name all of the members of the Senior Council?"
"How am I supposed to know it?" She snapped. "It wasn't in the book."
"Research helps," he said and looked at Harry's raised hand. "Go on."
"The Merlin, Arthur Langtry, the Gatekeeper, Rashid, Listens-to-Wind, Ancient Mai, Martha Liberty, Ebenezar McCoy and Gregori Cristos," Harry said, counting off names on his fingers.
"All of them spot on," Dresden said. "Usual form of nomination for the position is simply by being the oldest and the most powerful wizard, all of them are powerhouses when it comes to combat and you should never ever underestimate them..."
"If they are that powerful, how is it that we have never heard of them?" Ron asked, cutting in and not letting Dresden finish. "And why did you leave us alone during rise of You-Know-Who."
Harry felt temperature in the room drop, not below freezing point, but close enough so that their breaths turned into a fine mist. "Because they don't show off with their power as there is no need for it," Dresden said through clenched teeth. "And we didn't help you as we had a bigger war on our hands, one that was fought all over the world and there are also agreements that we let your aurors handle their own troubles. If they fail we show up and deal with the annoyance."
Everybody seemed to feel that Dresden was in a bad mood and even Ron fell silent.
"As I was going to say before that red-headed moron cut in," Dresden said. "They are the governing body of the White Council and oversee its work. They are also ones that give orders to Wardens, such as me, to do stuff, what we do is of no interest to you. You just need to know that we enforce the laws and deal with warlocks, every single one of us carries a sword as a sign of our position," he said and showed a scabbard attached to his belt. "The headquarters of the Council is hidden in the halls below the Castle of Edinburgh and this is everything for today's lesson. For the next one I want a paper about Wardens and their organization, you have everything you need in the book and the library. Class dismissed."
Harry followed everybody else out of the room as they piled out and walked down the corridor for their next class. He had heard things about Dresden from few people, but seeing him in person was a completely different experience, a lot more interesting and dangerous in a way. Next class was supposed to be Defense Against the Dark Arts, subject which sounded awesome, the only question being the quality of the teacher as rumors and gossips were that this one was bad.
o-0-o
I looked as my students left the classroom and the turned to look at Cat Sith, who jumped off the shelf and walked to me. He seemed tensed and ready to pounce which said a lot about his mood. Normally he was a lot more relaxed. "You were right, Sir Knight, there is something off about them."
I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. "What can you tell me?"
"That girl with golden eyes is a demigod, daughter of someone from Greek pantheon," Sith said. "Also there is something wild to her, so I would guess an Amazon is her mother, but she is a much smaller problem than her male friends. One of them is most likely her lover, unless that stench of sex around them is an accident."
"Can you skip the part about their love life?"
"You asked me to tell you everything," Sith pointed out. "Her male friends, one of whom is her lover, are Æsir. This bulky and huge one is a typical brawler, probably some battle magic and a lot of knowledge about weapons and how to kill. Winged one is a lot more dangerous, he hides it, but he is. Son of Thor if I'm not mistaken and if he is anything like his father he can summon lightning bolts, storms and everything else when it comes to weather."
I winced at Sith's words. "And why does Mab wants me to keep an eye on them? Not to mention protect our son of Thor?"
"Because they are most likely future rulers of Asgard and we need their support to deal with our enemies, Fomor are powerful and we both are aware how well the war was going," Sith said, making me nod. "Also she doesn't want Asgard mad at us, you saw what Vadderung did and he is here incognito, true Odin is a lot stronger, and unfortunately for you, Sir Knight, Winter Knights are known for murdering people."
I sighed and glared at my feline batman. "So if anybody takes a shot at our royalty, his family will come after me?"
"Not after you, Sir Knight, after Her Majesty and she will be most displeased with you."
It made me shudder in fear, Mab being displeased meant years of the finest torture she could come up with. She was the one from whom all of the nasty witches, queens and female characters in fairy tales learned how to cause pain and suffering. I saw the fate of my predecessor, he begged me to kill him and let him rest. "So if he gets injured I'm dead?"
"Assuming that she wouldn't strip you off your Mantle and give to Asgard so that they can kill you as an example of what happens when someone does something untowards against their Prince."
"She can do that?"
"What was given can be taken as easily as it was given, she gave you the Mantle and she can take it back," Cat Sith explained. "It happened few times in the past, when the Knight was starting to plot against her they lost their Mantle and head."
I nodded and walked around the classroom, waiting for the next class to come. If the matters were that bad someone would need to have a pleasant chat with a son of Thor so that things were clear. Chat that could end really bad for me. I sighed and looked towards the skull on the shelf above the blackboard, while she was useful I missed Bob and his knowledge. Yet I knew that taking her here and letting have a healthy meal out of the library would be better than it would be for Bob, she needed this knowledge to grow quickly and be a good adviser, Bob probably had most of this knowledge.
o-0-o
Lucius Malfoy looked out of the window of his mansion and smiled, the Diary has been delivered to one of the youngest Weasleys, which one he didn't care, important was that it was there and working.
"Nine more months and you will have a body," he said, looking at the ring laying on his desk. "Not a perfect one, but a good enough and with proper rituals it can get better, much better."
His gaze moved away from the ring and outside, he needed to move somewhere more hidden and out of the way or SHIELD could kill him. Previously his son was a reason why they stayed away, but now bombs could be dropped at any moment and even if he disliked and treated Muggles as trash, he knew that they were extremely proficient at killing and wouldn't have a single issue with blowing up the whole mansion to get to him. Fury only waited for such an opportunity and that meant a need to get a new house, better protected from bombs dropping through the roof.
Standing up with a flourish Lucius walked out of the room and with a snap was gone of the mansion, business needed to be done and bribes needed to be paid.
o-0-o
The moment Harry entered into the classroom where they were supposed to have DADA he had huge doubts that they would learn a single useful thing from this teacher. Every single wall was covered in pictures of the teacher, most of them looking hideous.
"This is supposed to teach us how to deal with dark arts and various nasties?" Ulf asked and Harry slowly nodded in agreement, making him snort. "My sister would do a far better job and she hates teaching."
"We will see," Harry said as they took seats by the window. "Though everybody says that this teacher is a ponce and an idiot," he paused to take a look around. "And the room confirms it."
"He is a teacher, show him some respect," someone angrily said and Harry looked in the direction of that voice.
When he recognized that it was this bushy haired witch named Hermione, he almost winced. "And what will you do to me? I will show him respect when I know that he will teach me something. Now? I doubt that he even knows the subject."
Hermione let out a mighty huff and walked away, muttering something under her breath.
"What a jerk," Atalanta said in thoughts and made him smile "She behaves as if she owned the place and could tell other where are their places in the grand scheme of things."
"I wanted to say the same thing, but she is a girl," Harry said with a sigh. "I wonder how we will survive with her telling us what's proper and what's not. If she was older, I might listen to her, but with her being in the same year? Over my dead body!"
"Don't get so riled up," Atalanta calmly said. "Think about the ball that is coming and an opportunity to have fun."
He blushed and looked at her. "Would you be my date for the ball?"
"Of course, I will be," she said and made him smile.
He heard some noise and when they looked towards the entrance into the classroom they saw their teacher walk into the room. If Harry had any hoped that the teacher would be somewhat useful, they were gone the moment he was able to take a good look at Gilderoy Lockhart. That man looked like a dandy and a ponce, he was dressed in a flamboyant lilac robes and there was not a single scar nor a blemish on his face.
"What a brave warrior," Harry muttered quietly. "Not a single scar on him."
"A fool and a coward," Atalanta said in agreement. "Want to bet how long he will survive?"
"Month, tops," Harry said and followed Lockhart with his gaze. "Uncle Loki lacks patience and understanding for fools."
She nodded and for the next hour they tried not to fall asleep as Lockhart only ranted about himself, how awesome he was, how brave and how well they would learn under his tutelage. It was followed by a test that made Harry loudly yawn and fall asleep on the desk. He was not going to bother with a test about his teacher. Lockhart could stuff them up his own ass and everybody would feel better and the parchment wouldn't be wasted.
o-0-o
Fred shifted uncomfortably and looked at Gambit. "We did nothing this time," he finally said.
"I know," Gambit said and smiled. "I know that you are quite good at causin' chaos and I need those particular skills of yours."
"That sounds interesting," George said. "May we know why do you want them and what we will get?"
"Pink menace is annoyin' and gettin' into the way," Gambit said. "So how would sound most of the staff turnin' a blind eye at what you do as long as it is aimed at her? Also if you want to learn somethin' that will cause her even more pain, I'm sure that I, Professor Dresden, Flitwick or Snape can help you."
"Teach us how to move so stealthy and unseen and we will do it," Fred said. "Just don't mention it to our mother as she would murder us for those things."
"Your secrets are safe with me," Gambit said and extended his hand. "So deal?"
"Deal," George said, shaking Gambit's hand.
Fred grinned as they walked away from Gambit, if they had a blessing to cause mischief, they were going to use it to have fun and do what they were told to do. Plans were already being and some would destroy some people's good mood quite soon, at the same time making a lot of students feel well.
o-0-o
As Harry walked to the Gryffindor's table after DADA for lunch, inside he was a boiling and steaming cauldron of rage, anger and frustration as Lockhart was a fool and an idiot that didn't know a single thing about dark arts or dangerous creatures.
"How this bumbling idiot can teach is beyond me," he said with a growl sitting down at the table and starting to pile up food onto his plate.
"Who?" Fred asked, making Harry glare at him. "Don't glare at me, I'm the innocent one."
"Lockhart," Harry said between one bite of food and another. "He is a freaking idiot and doesn't know what to do with his lack of brain."
"Don't worry," George said with a chuckle. "Those teachers have a low life expectations, for sure before the end of the year he will be fired or killed."
"Last one left the castle after three months of teaching," Fred added.
"So don't worry and don't care about him or our brother and his stupid games." George finished.
"What about your sister?" Atalanta asked with a predatory smile.
Harry shivered when he saw this smile and it made him glad that she was his lover, not an enemy.
"We will speak with her and try to make her see reason," Fred said, shifting uncomfortably. "She is a bit stubborn and getting her to do something is a challenge."
Atalanta nodded and the next moment Harry could feel a wave of something that he could only describe as distilled hatred and rage flow out of her, while her body almost completely froze in motion. He looked around and saw that Ginny was slowly making her way to the part of the table where he was.
"Please, tell me she isn't going towards me," Harry said, looking at Fred. "I am a telepath and what Atalanta is emitting is enough to scare me away from her. Which means that the next thing she does will result in violence."
Fred looked at him, then at the still form of Atalanta and finally at Ginny walking towards them. "Oh," he simply said and walked towards Ginny.
"Calm yourself," Harry whispered, placing his hand on Atalanta's shoulder. "You know that I'm not interested in her and that I want you."
Atalanta closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breath before she opened them and looked at him. "I know," she said, between deep breaths. "It's just that she annoys me and I need to survive with her in the dorm."
"I have her brother and he is also a nuisance," Harry said, finishing his lunch and trying to control his anger. "So if you break their legs or arms I won't mind it, too badly."
"Didn't you already sent that annoying weasel flying across the room?" Ulf asked with a smile. "I remember seeing someone being tossed and slammed into the wall."
Harry smiled sheepishly and looked at Ulf. "He annoyed me and he isn't the nicest person."
"What did he do?" Atalanta asked, her gaze sweeping between Harry and Ulf.
"Nothing," Harry said, making Ulf snort, loudly.
"Why do I have a feeling that nothing didn't end good for my dear brother?" George asked. "Not that I would miss him."
"He might have issues with my pets," Harry said. "And ended sleeping on the floor."
George laughed and it took a moment for him to calm. "I need to see it," he said. "Our mother would be furious if she heard it, but I need to see it."
"Perhaps I can get a pensieve and show you the memory," Harry said and laughed. "You should enjoy it."
"I will, I will," George said and looked at them. "But now I suggest you hurry for your classes, it would be a shame if you got detentions on your first day here."
Harry nodded and quickly finishing his lunch he walked out of the Great Hall, Atalanta and Ulf trailing behind him and keeping an eye out for troubles.
o-0-o
A/N -
Faculty choices - will be explained, most of them, but you should see logic behind most of them, if not wait for future chapters to come.
High table and courtly étiquette - will be covered in due time and during various occasions, for the moment you need to know that Asgard isn't that bent on following every single of its points to the letter. During major, official feasts hosted by King or one of his sons it is mostly followed, that is as long as you don't bend it too badly, you won't get murdered. During less important as long as they behave and don't cause too much destruction they can sit where they please. Only really special case is king/host, high table and that's all.
New things:
Sidhe - Imagine Winter and Summer court as a feudal monarchy, you have the ruler/king/duke/emperor/queen and so on and below them you have lesser beings. Sidhe are those close to the throne and the most powerful short of their Queens and Knights.
The summit - meeting of all of the Accords signatories, imagine a meeting of the whole UN or EU, they're the same thing. Leaders come to discuss things, negotiate deals and form alliances.
Cat Sith - the most powerful and the oldest of malks, also extremely wise and dangerous. When not minding his own business, it serves Winter Knight as their batman and advisor. Malks are large and deadly felines.
Changelings - beings that are an effect of mating between two races - humans and some kind of Fae, this choice Dresden mentioned is their coming of age in a way. They choose which thing they want to be and fully become one.
Elementary Magic - a book written by the Blackstaff that's an introduction to magic.
Lash - effect of Dresden and a Fallen Angel(Lashiel) getting a bit frisky with each other, if you know how did it happen, ready books.
Reviews:
-WhiteElfElder - I mean drugs as in medicaments, they are all the time on drugs that keep them infertile, their families aren't the most discreet when it comes to sleeping around. So into them were mostly forced out of their free will drugs that will prevent any bastards that otherwise could happen. Their stamina? They have enough of energy that it would take them hours before they could feel real exertion and it will take them centuries before they catch their breath and pause.
She on her own would cause problems, add to that the fact that all of them are not allowed to have much of their usual stress relief tools and are often told things they don't really like or approve of. Let's say that she and few other will have a very brief and painful life inside of Hogwarts.
Indeed, they will, that is if they have a chance to do so as something might happen to them and so on. In short, they won't have an easy life. And if they start to play with magic, oh boy, then shit starts to hit the fan. Harry has limited capabilities when it comes to replying in kind, but his guards or family members will happily play the game.